The present invention relates to an apparatus for positioning and supporting an inner mold panel of a steel concrete wall building form, more particularly to an apparatus for positioning and supporting an inner mold panel of a steel concrete wall building forms during the set up thereof.
Collapsible steel-form mold panels were developed by the same inventor of this invention and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,667,923 and 4,679,762. Steel-form mold panels can be used repeatedly and can save a great amount of construction time. Although there are many advantages associated with the use of these mold panels, it is still necessary to make further improvements thereon in order to satisfy the specific needs of the user thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1, which corresponds to FIG. 11 of abovementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,762, a sectional view of the steel-form mold panels already set up and ready for concrete pouring is shown. In the set up process of the steel-form mold panels, inner mold panels 10 are first installed and outer mold panels 12 are then pulled up to be associated with said inner mold panels by means of a plurality of suspension devices 11 and spacers (13 or 14) at their upper portions and lower portions thereof respectively. It should be notes that holes must be drilled on both the inner and outer mold panels in order to install the spacers (13 or 14). After all of the steel-form mold panels are set up, walls 15 and a floor 17 can be constructed by means of one concrete pouring process.
The advantages of the above described method of constructing a building are readily apparent. By using this method set-up of the steel-form mold panels is quite easy, the walls and floor of a building can be constructed simultaneously, less time is required for the set-up and detachment of the steel-form mold panels, etc. However, regarding the actual application of the above steel-form mold panels, it has been discovered that there is still much room for improvement.
(1) During the concrete pouring process, the lower portions of the inner mold panels of the steel forms must withstand an extremely large expansion pressure. If no proper spacers are equipped, the maximum movement of the inner mold panels during the pouring process will be 5 cm., resulting in the formation of a curved or uneven wall surface instead of a straight or even one.
(2) As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the lower portions of the outer mold panels of the steel forms 12 rest against the walls 18 of the lower story of a building. Although a plurality of spacers are equipped between the inner and outer steel-form mold panels 10, 12, the poured concrete confined therebetween will usually exert uneven pressure onto the respective inner and outer steel-form mold panels causing these panels to move slightly. This movement of the inner and outer steel-form mold panels causes damage to the walls 18.
(3) In order to maintain a definite spacing between the inner and outer steel-form mold panels 10, 12, many spacers in the form of those shown in FIG. 1 are installed between the inner and outer steel-form mold panels. It is necessary to drill a plurality of holes on the surface of both the inner and outer steel-form mold panels. The drilling of these holes is the most time-consuming step of the whole process of setting up the steel-form mold panels. In addition, the holes left on the surface of the steel-form mold panels will decrease the effectiveness of those very valuable mold panels.